Fewer Australians are smoking daily than ever before and more are giving up alcohol, a survey has found.
 
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Thursday published the 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey.
 
The three-yearly survey of more than 22,000 Australians found that 11 percent of Australians were daily smokers in 2019, down from 12.2 percent in 2016, with 58 percent of smokers saying that the cost of cigarettes was motivating them to "quit or cut back."
 
"Smoking rates have more than halved since 1991 when almost one quarter (24 percent) of Australians were daily smokers," Gabrielle Phillips, the head of AIHW Housing and Specialized Services Group at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, said in a media release.
 
Alcohol remained the most commonly used drug in Australia, with approximately 75 percent of respondents saying they had consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months.
 
However, the proportion of respondents who identified as "former drinkers" rose from 7.6 percent in 2016 to 8.9 percent.
 
"There was also a rise in the number of people cutting back on alcohol, with 31 percent of people saying they had reduced the number of alcoholic drinks they consumed at any one time, up from 28 percent in 2016," Phillips said.
 
Among illicit drugs cannabis remained the most-used.
 
Australians aged 14-29 in 2019 were significantly less likely to smoke, drink alcohol or use illicit drugs than previous generations at the same age.
 
Almost one quarter of those aged 20-29 had abstained from alcohol compared to 8.9 percent in 2001.
 
"In 2001, 38 percent of 14-19 year olds had used an illicit drug at some point in their lives, but by 2019, this was 22 percent," Phillips said. 

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